“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday escalated his trade dispute with Canada, threatening to impose a 35% tariff on Canadian goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement if a deal is not reached by August 1.
The move comes after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada would support Palestinian statehood at a United Nations meeting in September.
“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Carney defended the decision, citing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “Canada condemns the fact that the Israeli government has allowed a catastrophe to unfold in Gaza,” he said.
Canada is the United States’ second-largest trading partner, buying $349.4 billion of U.S. goods last year while exporting $412.7 billion. It is also the top U.S. supplier of steel and aluminum.
Talks between Washington and Ottawa were described as “intense,” but Carney warned that a full removal of U.S. tariffs was unlikely before the deadline.
Israel and the U.S. have rejected Carney’s position on Palestinian statehood.